May 21, 2008 May 23, 2008 Thursday May 22, 2008
-
Status Screen Saver 1.0 keeps you up on Mail and Twitter in screen saver mode
Status Screen Saver lets you notifies you of your unread emails in Mail, new tweets in Twitterrific and new news items in NetNewsWire all while leaving your Mac's screen display any other screen saver of you choice. The developer, Logan Rockmore, has also made it easy for you to add support for other applications as long as they allow Applescript to check on their status. Status Screen... [read more at MacMerc.com]
-
IT Wars
Last week's column on Gartner Inc. and the thin underbelly of IT was a hit, it seems, with very few readers rising to the defense of Gartner or the IT power structure in general. To be fair I probably should have said that Gartner isn't totally worthless, but I think their specialists should be more specialized and they shouldn't promote technologies or products without being darned familiar with them -- a lot more familiar than they seem to be at present. But the bigger question is why IT even has to work this way at all? I don't think it has to. Most of the problems of IT start and end with bad management. I speak fairly often to technical audiences and one question I like to ask is simple: If you were hit by a bus tomorrow, could your boss do your job? The answer is almost always "no." By "almost always" I mean 97-99 percent of the time. It's a question I have been asking for 15 years and the answer hasn't changed in that time. It would appear bosses aren't becoming more accomplished, at least not yet. The implications of this answer are profound. It either means that IT managers aren't being promoted from within or, if they are being promoted from the ranks, they lose their technical skills almost immediately. If we drill down a bit further some real truths start to emerge. Whether IT managers are promoted from within or brought from outside it is clear that they usually aren't hired for their technical prowess, but rather for their ability to get along with THEIR bosses, who are almost inevitably not technical. For every John Reed, who rose from IT to run CitiCorp (and ultimately failed), there are a thousand CEOs who want nothing to do with computers. It might be easy to say that IT, as a staff -- rather than a line -- job simply isn't seen as critical to the success of the organization, but that's crazy. IT touches every employee and customer every day. Most of what's accomplished in business these days is ordered, fulfilled, paid for, and analyzed through the use of IT. We can't eliminate it because now government expects -- even demands -- that it be there. If something is so important, then, why do the big bosses understand it so little? For the most part they are kept in the dark. Since the early mainframe days there has been a priesthood of sorts in corporate computing -- a level of executives who felt that their power would be enhanced by keeping technology mysterious. "It's much too hard for you to understand, Mr. CEO, even if you started out long ago as an electrical engineer. Electrons are different now you know." "It's complex and mysterious, this IT stuff, and dependent on people who don't think like you or I do," the CEO is told and he/she believes it because the alternative is laboriously becoming an expert in an area they don't like or thought that they had outgrown. This leaves IT in a bit of a vacuum but it is a vacuum with some power. And in most organizations power ultimately manifests itself in head count, so IT organizations grow like crazy, becoming ever less efficient in the process. The typical power structure of corporate (which includes government) IT tends to discourage efficiency while encouraging factionalization. Except in the rare instance where the IT director rises from the ranks of super-users, there is a prideful disconnect between the IT culture and the user culture. It's the AV kids from school versus the "normal" kids. IT organizations often disrespect users and users often disrespect IT. This is not good for either group. One of the real miracles of the PC revolution was that it often was led by super-users -- enthusiasts who had a PC at home before they had one at work and who led their co-workers as much through example as skill. Well those days of the 1970s and '80s are long gone and IT is today as entrenched and isolated as it was during the mainframe era of the 1960s. In time this will end through the expedient of a generational change. Old IT and old users will go away to be replaced by new IT and new users, each coming from a new place. This is the same challenging effect I wrote about a few weeks ago for education. A generational change will completely alter our cultural approach to information technology. And it can't happen soon enough for me. An analogy we used to make years ago was comparing the PC industry to the early U.S. auto industry. There were hundreds of companies in both businesses at one time (in the 1920s for cars and the 1980s for computers), but each eventually consolidated into a dozen or so major brands and a few hot rods. Our problem using the auto analogy today is that we haven't let it evolve. Where IT may have once been like the 1920s auto industry, now it is becoming more like that same industry in the 1980s. This transition goes far beyond simple brand consolidation. When was the last time you worked on your own car? You could change your oil, probably, but you don't, right? And you haven't done so since the late 1970s or early 1980s. Same for IT today, where the do-it-yourself attitude of the 1970s has given way to a do-it-for-me attitude. I'm not saying this is bad. Indeed, I think it was inevitable as the market broadened from just PC enthusiasts until it today encompasses everyone. Al Mandel, who helped market the original LaserWriter at Apple and later had several high-level positions at AOL, used to say that the step after ubiquity was invisibility, and that's where we are headed today with IT, which has become so pervasive that everyone uses it to the point where NOT using it is no longer even an option. The problem is our management of IT hasn't evolved as quickly as our assimilation of it. We'll probably still be fighting over who owns IT long after the IT resources, themselves, become effectively no longer ownable, except in our corporate minds. I'm writing this column on an iPhone, for example. It isn't the easiest or best writing environment but, as Adam Osborne used to say, it is good enough. It offers the input, output, networking, and storage I need and almost nothing I don't need. I'm not saying the iPhone or smartphones like it are the absolute future of personal computing, but I AM saying the desktop PC is its absolute past. We're in an era of transitioning business models. IT is shrinking in traditional terms and will continue to shrink as cheaper mobile devices replace more expensive desktops for some workers. Software will change from being a product to a service. And because the incumbent players in the software biz are especially uncomfortable as service organizations, we'll inevitably see some changes in that pecking order. Microsoft will go down and Apple, for example, will probably rise. Users will be changed forever as new paradigms emerge, but for a few more years at least, corporate IT won't notice, being too darned busy fighting its own internecine wars.
-
aTV Flash Apple TV hack updated
If you're one of those people who has the minerals to install non-Apple software on his Apple TV, you may be interested to know that the USD$59.95 aTV Flash USB drive has been upgraded to version 2.2 . aTV Flash allows your Apple TV to... Play most video formats (DivX, Xvid, AVI, WMV, RMVB + more) Play DVD files WITHOUT converting them Sync, organize and watch non-iTunes video files Browse the... [read more at MacMerc.com]
-
Rate your iTunes from the Menu Bar with I Love Stars 2.0
From the people who brought you Tangerine and Voice Candy comes a little Menu Bar item called I Love Stars. It allows you to assign a star rating to the song currently playing in iTunes right from the Menu Bar. My first reaction when I read about the app was "It sounds handy, but, geez, like I need one for icon on my Menu Bar!" and sure enough, if you look at the screenshot at right, it does... [read more at MacMerc.com]
-
What fonts are supposed to be installed in Mac OS X 10.5?
If you're a font addict like I am, but don't use any kind of third-party font management software, a peek inside your Fonts folder may overwhelm you. And, if you ever suspect that an installed font is giving you system problems, you may need to sort through your collection and get rid of some typographic dead weight. The problem is, it's hard to tell which fonts might have been installed by Mac... [read more at MacMerc.com]
-
Forrester Research: Here Apple, have some terrible ideas
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, AppleForrester Research has mined its vast knowledge resources, and produced a report suggesting that Apple's products in 2013 will be nothing but household clutter. Apparently Apple is out of ideas, so Forrester decided to take on the task itself, coming up with an envelope-pushing list of electronics that includes such marvels as: digital picture frames clock radios universal remote controls Wow. That's research money well spent, if you ask me. Take note Apple employees, these are the ideas you're going to have to top in your next product development meeting. [Via AlleyInsider.]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
-
Times Reader Beta now available
Filed under: Software, Internet Tools A few days ago I mentioned that the Time Reader Beta would soon be open for Mac users, but I had no idea how soon it would actually appear.Today the New York Times has released the Mac beta of their Times Reader. For those that don't know, the Times Reader is a stand alone app that tries to marry to best aspects of reading the Times on the web with the high quality typography and readability one finds in the physical paper.As many Mac users have bemoaned, the Times Reader is built upon Microsoft's Silverlight technology allowing them to develop the app for both Windows and OS X.While the Times Reader for Mac is in beta it is free, though once it leaves beta it will only be available via subscription. Check out the Frequently Asked Questions for more answers, and our gallery showing screenshots of the install process and of the app itself.Gallery: Times Read Beta first lookRead | Permalink | Email this | Comments
-
3G or not 3G: WHERE is the question
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Wireless, iPhone With all of the excitement about the 3G iPhone, one question you should ask yourself is "Am I actually in an area with AT&T HSDPA 3G service?" After all, a 3G iPhone will only poke along at EDGE (or even, God forbid, GPRS) speeds unless it is in a 3G service area. Fortunately, AT&T Wireless has a list of the major markets that have HSDPA service. Unfortunately, you have to go through the list by state and city name before you can actually click on a map and see if your house or office is in a zone of 3G love. My house, which has sucky AT&T service at this time, is allegedly in a 3G-happy area (blue on the screenshot). That's the good news. The bad news is that I'm right near the border of one of those orange zones, which indicate no 3G service.My sister currently enjoys EDGE service in her home town of Richland, WA, but is anxious to get her iPhone connected with 3G service. I hate to tell her that she's not on the list.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
-
Security company discloses iCal vulnerabilities
Filed under: Internet, LeopardCore Security, in an advisory that showed a contentious argument with Apple, disclosed three iCal bugs that attackers could exploit using malicious servers, web sites, and .ics email attachments. "The vulnerabilities may allow un-authenticated attackers to execute arbitrary code on vulnerable systems with (and potentially without) the assistance from the end user of the application or to repeatedly execute a denial of service attack to crash the iCal application," said Core Security. The advisory states that iCal 3.01 running on Mac OS X 10.5.1 is still vulnerable, but it's unclear if the latest version of both iCal and Mac OS X (3.02 and 10.5.2, respectively) fix the problems. Apple asked Core Security to delay publication of its findings, but Core Security set May 21 as its drop-deadline. Core Security first reported the bugs in January. Apple fixed one of the bugs in a security release in March (2008-002), but thought that the others were not as critical as Core Security did. After Apple pushed back the release date for the remaining patches several times, a frustrated Core Security said they would release details of the bugs. [Via Macworld]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
-
AT&T 3G network will be mostly ready by June 30
Filed under: iPhoneAT&T announced today that about two-thirds of its U.S. network will enjoy download speeds of 1.4 Mb/s and upload speeds of 500 to 800 Kb/s by June 30. Compared to the actual throughput of the EDGE network, it could be about 15 times faster. According to the press release, 275 markets will be ready by the end of June. As to which cities and towns those are, Ma Bell is silent. It expects to have its nationwide network entirely 3G-enabled by the end of the year. The upgrade is part of a $20 billion network overhaul which has been in the works since 2005. AT&T also didn't mention anything about a new iPhone, but hinted at "the addition of more 3G-enabled smartphones in the summer and fall of 2008." [Via Apple 2.0]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
-
People already lining up for 3G iPhone?
Filed under: Cult of Mac, iPhoneIn what must come as somewhat, yet not completely, surprising news, it seems people are already starting to line up at Apple's flagship 5th Avenue store in New York for the next version of the iPhone -- supposedly being announced on June 9th. According to our friends at Engadget Mobile, the line is already about 60 people deep but some waiting seemed confused as to what they were actually waiting for -- although others did think they were in line for the new iPhone 2.0.Could this line actually be for the latest and greatest version of the iPhone? Or, is this just some tragic case of mis-communication? Maybe they think they can get their hands on one of those iPhone refurbs? Or, perhaps the employees at that particular store are bored and just in the mood to mess with customers?Whatever the answer, if this is actually an indication of the fervor iPhone 2.0 is going to generate, maybe I should start thinking about when and where to line up so I can get mine?How about you guys, you going to camp out to be the first on your block to get an iPhone 2.0?Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
-
AT&T: Your plastic bag. Delivered.
Filed under: Humor, iPhoneI purchased an iPhone during the refurb sale that AT&T had last week. In two working days I got my 16 gig iPhone, times two. Two identical boxes, two identical iPhones and two identical charges on my debit card. Given the good deal, I decided to keep both (yes, despite the impending update). Imagine my surprise when my wife called me at work the next day to report that a third box had arrived from AT&T via DHL 2-day shipping, and that it was twice the size of either of the iPhone boxes. Given the previous day's spoils, I couldn't wait to get home. Arriving at my house, I located the box and sat down with it on the couch. It was very, very light, but I've become accustomed to good things not weighing much. Pulling out my trusty Swiss Tech Utili-Key, I carefully sliced open my unexpected delivery. Inside was a packing slip with a single line item: 75011 MISC iPhone PPA BAG ... $0.00 Yes, it was an unsolicited, rush delivery, plastic iPhone bag. This is definitely not a first for AT&T and the monetary waste involved in packing and shipping a completely unnecessary plastic bag is, I assume, passed back to the consumer. Next time you look at your AT&T bill, you can think about my MISC iPhone PPA BAG ... which I'll be cherishing forever. Or at least until the novelty wears off. Gallery: iPhone PPA Bag unboxingRead | Permalink | Email this | Comments
-
Dropbox: Seamless file upload and sharing
Filed under: Software, Internet Tools I don't know about y'all, but the beta service Dropbox has personally answered my prayers. It's an amazing piece of web software that integrates with the Finder, and allows you to seamlessly copy files up to the web for sharing -- and not use FTP. Dropbox exists (through some kind of magic, I'm sure) in your home directory as a folder named "Dropbox." There, you can copy files to and from it just as you would any other kind of folder. File copying is pretty perky. A 1MB file took about 15 seconds over my broadband connection. As someone who still cringes at uploading files via the Finder (hi, early .Mac user here), this was a pleasant surprise. One thing I wasn't expecting was that since the Dropbox folder appears to "live inside" your home directory, the default Finder behavior of moving files (and not copying them, as you might expect) applies. I was still of the FTP mindset that "I am copying files to the internet." So hold down that option key. Beta accounts of Dropbox include 2GB of storage. (If you need more, SugarSync, OmniDrive, or JungleDisk might be options for you.) You can also add multiple computers to the same account, and have access to a common Dropbox among all of them. My favorite feature, though, is being able to upload files to a "Public" folder, and have a URL automatically assigned to them. I have a Transmit bookmarklet that already does this (though, it uploads it to my own website), but I have to type out the URL manually. Dropbox's contextual-menu item saves me that trouble, and I can just paste the URL into my email. Dropbox is still in public beta, so if you know a friend who got a beta signup code, then they got 10 invitations as well. So bring chocolates, flowers, cash, or whatever it takes to get an invitation. They will disappear quickly.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
-
TUAW Review: Napster MP3 store
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Features, ReviewsAs we noted yesterday, Napster has now rolled out the world's largest DRM-free MP3 store. In the spirit of the Amazon MP3 review we ran last year, I thought I would take Napster for a spin to see how the service works from a Mac-user's perspective. The first thing to note is that this is a download service. While Napster continues to run its subscription-based service (with downloads limited to Windows computers with Microsoft DRM), you do not need a subscription to purchase MP3s from the Napster Store (though you need an account, of course). Once downloaded the files are just straight 256kbps MP3s that should play without problem on any of a variety of devices. With that in mind, let's have a look at the Napster experience.Continue reading TUAW Review: Napster MP3 storeRead | Permalink | Email this | Comments
-
Psystar skates on thin ice
Rob Griffiths thinks Psystar’s decision to host Apple downloads on its own Web site opens the clone maker to the legal action that’s been expected ever since the company started selling a PC with OS X installed.
-
Apple in 2013 won't be Sony
For a fee, Forrester Research will tell you their predictions of Apple's product strategy through 2013, including the kinds of products they believe Apple will create and how they tie together into a coherent vision. $279 U.S. buys you a PDF containing their analysis of Apple's drive to become “the hub of the digital home”, the “American Sony”. What kind of products do they envision? Among the new products Forrester predicts Apple will create are wall-mountable digital picture frames with small high-definition screens and speakers that wirelessly play media, including photos, videos and music, stored on a computer elsewhere in the home. — Wall Street Journal, May 22, 2008 Digital picture frames? For the bedroom, Forrester envisions an Apple “clock radio” that pipes in music and other media across a home network. — Wall Street Journal, May 22, 2008 Clock radios? Sounds like someone thought “what would Apple do if Apple were Sony”, and took it from there: Well, Sony makes clock radios, so what value-added would Apple bring there? Easy! Media + wi-fi. And digital picture frames, no question—just a small flatscreen and a wi-fi chip and you're good. Wait, why not video, too? It will need speakers… If those predictions fairly represent the quality of Forrester's analysis, save your 279 bucks. Apple isn't Sony, and you can't extrapolate what Apple will be creating in 2013 by imagining Sony with wi-fi and media added. Sony doesn't do software; Apple does. Software changes things, and software elegantly integrated with hardware changes things a lot. If you want to imagine Apple products in 2013, start with processors that are faster, cheaper, smaller, and cooler than those we have today, then seat them in devices that are wirelessly networked, auto-discovering, and auto-configuring. Now—and this is the important part—imagine real-world problems these devices might solve so well that you'd happily pay a premium for. Those are the products Apple will be building. It's possible that Apple might build simple products like clock radios and digital picture frames, but like the iPod Hi-Fi, they would be curiosities rather than cutting-edge. Handy? Perhaps, but hardly worthy of inclusion in a forward-looking product strategy analysis. And then there's the truly strange: Forrester also thinks Apple could extend into the home the technical assistance currently offered by “Genius Bar” personnel in Apple retail stores. Apple in-home installation services will become especially important as its array of products for the home grows. — Wall Street Journal, May 22, 2008 Yeah, imagine an Apple Genius talking to you over video chat: “Ma'am, I can't quite see the connectors. Can you shine a little more light back there, and move the camera in just a bit closer?”
-
Penny Arcade's On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness releases
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Multimedia, Software Yes, that is the title. Penny Arcade's game has been released, and is now available for sale or demo over on the Greenhouse site. What's perhaps most amazing about this game is that on Tuesday, developers Hothead Games released the thing simultaneously on as many platforms as they could, including PC, OS X, Linux, and even the Xbox Live Arcade. That in itself is almost admirable enough to pick it up on principle alone.But is it any good? Reviews have been middling, though word on the street says that if you're a fan of the webcomic, you'll probably enjoy the game. Jerry Holkins, writer of both the comic and the game, spoke with our sister site Joystiq about the grueling process of putting it together, and gameplay is basically a mix of old-school RPG, Call of Cthulu, and Sam & Max. Play, in other words, at your own risk.Or just try the demo. The game itself is only $20, but it's the first of four episodes, all priced that way, so it might be pretty costly by the end. Still, especially if you're a Penny Arcade fan, it's worth a look. And any developer that goes multi-platform including OS X on day one, complete with demos, gets a TUAW salute from us.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
-
Enjoy online time tracking with Timepost
Filed under: SoftwareHere's a nice application for people who work by the hour ... and must track those hours themselves. Timepost works very simply - just click the start button as you begin working and the pause button when you're done.Now for the good part. Timepost integrates with Basecamp, Freshbooks, Blinksale, FogBugz, Harvest and Tick. Just enable the API access for each service in your account settings and you'll be able to browse all of your open projects. Select the one you're working on from the drop down menu and when you're finished just click the "Post" button. Your hours will be added to the project.Timepost requires Mac OS X 10.4.9 or later and a single license will cost you $49US.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
-
Mac 101: Eject button in the menu bar
Filed under: OS, Mac 101If you're using a keyboard without an eject key, say a non-Apple keyboard, an older Apple keyboard or (in my case) a really old Apple keyboard, you're probably missing that eject button. Sure, you can launch iTunes and select "Eject Disk" from the Controls menu, but there's a much easier way.Navigate to the CoreServices folder, which lives in your system's Library. There, you'll find "Eject.menu" in the Menu Extras folder. Simply double-click that sucker and presto! An eject button is now in your menu bar.To remove it, simply click it and drag it onto the desktop while holding down the Command key. You can also re-arrange menu bar items by dragging with the Command key depressed.[Via MacSupport]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
-
Applescript to arrange your desktop
Filed under: How-tos, Tips and tricks, Macbook ProHere's a very cool tip we first saw at Lifehaker. Jeff Kelley is a MacBook Pro user who, like many others, connects it to several displays, depending on context and the task at hand. If you've done this, you may be familiar with the same irritation that has bothered Jeff. Namely, application windows re-sizing themselves across displays. The difference between Jeff and the rest of us is that he did something about it.Here is a great AppleScript that notices his screen resolution and sizes his application windows according to his likes. Now, Mail, iCal and so on will appear just where they ought to. Very cool!Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
-
Create a WiFi Hotspot - Share Your Internet Connection in Leopard
In the last few weeks I've been in a situation twice where only one person had Internet access (me) and needed to share it with other people or devices. The first time we were at a convention center and only had wired internet access at the booth. We had several iPhones we needed to use to display a website (we were demoing a new mobile website). The second time our wireless router went out in the office and only a handful of computers are running on a hard-wired ethernet connection. In both cases, we needed to access the Internet and having a Mac saved the day. It was extremely simple and quick to share my internet connection on my MacBook Pro using built-in features in Mac OS X. To share an internet connection over Airport, you will need to be connected to the internet by either a wired ethernet connection or by a cellular card. I used a Verizon V740 card to share the internet connection at the convention and hard-wired ethernet connection at the office when our router went out. So how do you share your Internet connection using Mac OS X? See the tutorial below, or take a look at the video. (more…)
-
The BlackBoard Pro
Filed under: Mods, Macbook ProHere's the situation. You're sitting with a friend when she gives you some great information that you want to write down. Or, you want to share something with her, but your Mac is not running, and it seems like a hassle to wait for it to boot just to complete that simple exchange. What's a nerd to do?How about cover the lid of your MacBook Pro with chalkboard paint? That's exactly what Russell Davies did, and the BlackBoard Pro was born. It's got a certain "Little House on the Prairie Schoolhouse" charm, and as Russell says, "...there's something very satisfying about crossing off a to do by licking your finger and smearing it out."Well done, Russell. We think.[Via Joshua Blakenship]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
-
SpamSieve 2.7 is available
Filed under: Software, Internet ToolsThe great SpamSieve was updated earlier this week to version 2.7. If you're unfamiliar with SpamSieve, you're probably inundated with unwanted email. It's a piece of software that works with your email client and excels at squashing spam long before you ever see it. Over time, it gets better at identifying what you consider spam as well as those benign messages you want to see. Version 2.7 offers many great improvements, including: Several variety of accuracy improvements, focused on dealing Improved corpus speed and memory use Various improvements to the column widths and alignments in the rules and corpus windows, and added alternating row colors There's more, of course, and you can read the rest here. While you're at it, read this tutorial for setting up a drone SpamSieve Mac. I've been running one for months and it works wonderfully.SpamSieve 2.7 is a free update for registered users and requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
-
Mac OS Ken: 05.22.2008
Munster Advises Caution on 3G iPhone Expectations / RIM Co-CEO Talks iPhone (Then Bashes It) / Man and Machine Sues Apple and CBS Over âMighty Mouseâ / New iTunes TV Ad Featuring Coldplay Debuts / Apple Updates Logic Pro to v8.0.2 / Report: U.S. Department of Defense Could Block Apple/PA Semi Deal / European Patent Office Reveals New iPod and iPhone Case Designs / Why Did Apple Stock Drop $7 Wednesday?
-
Maccast 2008.05.21 - Office 2008 for Mac with Shooby
A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. A special episode of the Maccast. I sit down with former podcaster and friend of the Maccast Shooby and we discuss the latest version of Office for the Mac, Office 2008. This new version has some great updates and features along with some aggressive pricing for students and home users. Subscribe to the Podcast Feed or Get the MP3